The cold wind blew as people rushed into the building to get away from the wintery air.  Inside were the sounds of the referees blowing their whistles and basketball shoes squeaking as fifth and sixth grade basketball ran up and down the court.  The lights shined off of the shiny wooden floor bordered with purple.  Ecstatic coaches, energetic teammates, and loving parents yelled and cheered on their teams.  There were so many different jersey colors; it was like a rainbow.

As a sixth grader, I played on a tournament team.  We were playing in a tournament at the middle school in Holgate, Ohio.  We just finished playing one of our games, which we had just lost.  I was upset and hungry, so I went to my mom to get some money.  I also had a floor burn on my knee, so when I went up to her, she sprayed some medicine on my tender knee and told me, “Hey, good job!”

“Thanks, Mom!” I replied.
She then asked, “Are you hungry?”
I exclaimed, “Yes, I’m starving! May I please have some money, so I can buy a chicken sandwich from the concession stand?”
“Sure!” she happily agreed.

She gave me five dollars, and I went to the concession stand to buy my sandwich.  The smell of the cooking food temporarily healed the ache of my knee and the loss.  There were many people in line, so it took a while before a kind woman gave me my sandwich.  The warmth of the sandwich on the bottom on the powerless paper plate that the sandwich came on heated my hand.  I took a bite, and it was Heaven.  Then I found all of my teammates, and we went to watch another one of the games currently being played. 

We found a spot to sit in the gym, but it was on the other side, which felt like it was a mile away.  I walked around the sideline when I reached one of the team’s benches.  The coach was standing up, and I didn’t want to walk in front of him.  I decided to walk behind him.  When I did, he took a step backwards, bumping into my arm, causing me to drop my warm, chicken sandwich on the court.  As I tried to keep from falling over, I ended up stepping in the sandwich, which annoyed me.  I was so excited to eat that sandwich!

The referees blew their loud, high-pitched whistles to stop the whole game in order to clean it up as I stood there unsure what to do.  It was one of the most awkward moments of my life! I stood there puzzled as I wondered why they had to stop the game because I dropped the sandwich on the sideline.  It wasn’t even where it would affect the game.  After I helped clean it up, I had to go to the bathroom to try to get the chicken off of the bottom of my shoe.   I had to get a bobby pin from my mom in order to get it out.  When it was finally all out, my mom asked, “Would you like me to buy you another sandwich?”
I replied with my appetite lost, “No, I think I’m good for now!”